1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power transfer/transmission apparatus for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
An example of a power transfer/transmission apparatus for a vehicle is a differential gear provided with two adjusting clutches disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 09-328021.
This apparatus employs a pair of gears arranged on different axial lines and meshing with each other, to receive driving power from an engine and transmit the driving power to a cylindrical drive unit. Ends of the cylindrical drive unit are connected to the clutches, respectively. The clutches are engaged/disengaged to transfer the driving power to left and right wheels.
Each of the clutches has a bell-shaped member to receive the driving power from the cylindrical drive unit. The bell-shaped member has gear teeth formed on an inner circumferential face thereof. These gear teeth mesh with gear teeth formed on an outer circumferential face of the cylindrical drive unit in a manner like spline coupling. Namely, each clutch is supported only at an end of the cylindrical drive unit through the meshed gears of the bell-shaped member and cylindrical drive unit. This support configuration is unstable and may cause unbalanced rotation of the bell-shaped members to badly affect the engagement/disengagement of the clutches.
The cylindrical drive unit supports, on the center axis side thereof, an end of an outer circumferential face of an output member for driving an axle. Namely, the cylindrical drive unit receives therein an end of the output member, and at the same time, supports thereon an end of the bell-shaped member. This configuration must involve a complicated assembling work.
Each of the clutches has a clutch collar. The clutch collar has gear teeth on an inner circumferential face thereof and the gear teeth mesh with gear teeth formed on an outer circumferential face of the output member in a manner like spline coupling. As mentioned above, an end of the output member is inserted into and supported by the cylindrical drive unit, and therefore, the supporting of the clutch collar by the output member becomes unstable in a radial direction. This results in causing unbalanced rotation of the bell-shaped members to badly affect the engagement/disengagement of the clutches.